1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

mowed down by an angry motorist if she
made a wrong move. As she headed around
the circle and pedaled hard to catch up
with her friends, the patiently waiting motorists
quietly switched gears and continued
on their way.
Observing the foregoing incident, a visiting
New '¥'orker expressed amazement at
such an unusual demonstration of patience.
"What purpose would be served,"
answered the driver with .whom the onlooker
was riding, "if we had become impatient
and one of us had perhaps yelled
at her? She might have panicked and lost
her balance, and this Bermud'l.an rock is
hard to fall on. She might have swung one
way or another, forgetting to signal, and
we could then easily run her down. It
would ruin her vacation and she and her
friends might have unpleasant memories
and not want to visit us again." With a
knowing grin, the driver added, "Besides,
who's in a hurry? This island is only
twenty-three miles long. We'll all get
where we're heading anyway. We could be
only a few minutes late by exercising patience,
but when an accident occurs we
have to stay at the scene sometimes for
hours. So what's the sense in being unkind
and impatient?"
Added to an inborn charity for the
stranger is the Bermudian's astute awareness
of the island's economic structure. He
recognizes that the wobbly cyclist, the
more daring "putt-putter" zooming around
the corner (many times alarmingly on the
right side of the road-the wrong side in
Bermuda!), the meandering jaywalker preoccupied
with a nearby fiaming oleander
tree-is that important import, the tourist.
However, these kindly people love their
island home. They genuinely want their
visitors to enjoy safe and happy holidays
so they will come back.
Visitors take back with them to their
homes memories of spontaneous acts of
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kindness they have experienced them.
selves. One visitor from Brooklyn on a
rented motor-assisted bicycle was sailing
along a scenic shoreline road when suddenly
the "putt-putt" spluttered and came
to a halt-out of gas!
Feeling somewhat foolish and. resignedly
pushing the depowered bicycle, the per·
spiring visitor came upon a building crew
erecting a sea retaining wall. Immediately
recognizing the lady's plight, the foreman
of the work crew instructed one of his
men to Hsiphon some gas from the truck,
mix in some oil, and fill the lady's tank."
Embarrassment fled 1n the face oi gerrame
friendliness and kindness.
Power restored, the visitor sped away,
and, on the return trip, as she whizzed past
the same spot all tools were downed and
all hands waved a cheery "so long, have
a good trip."
Friendly Shopping
The port of Hamilton boasts one of the
most unusual waterfronts in the world. On
one side of Front Street is the dockside
and on the other a row of neat and colorful
stores, stocked with the finest merchandise
that Bermuda's astute merchants
bring back frQm all cO"tners